European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 7, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse By Kira l Billik associated press age Hast mellowed the High priest of Punk. Iggy pop. Since his Earty Days As the volatile Leader of the stooges pop born James Osterbur has been an angry Man a angry about life a despair and angry at the slate of Rock music As he knows and loves it on his latest album. Brick by Brick pop reiterates his anger from the viewpoint of someone who s seen it Alt and does t like much of what he a seen. He blasts artists who fall victim to commercialism in main Street eyes record company executives looking for new blood at any Cost on my baby wants to Rock and Roll and yuppies who glorify the almighty Dollar in starry night. He s proud of his own integrity and self respect but knows he s in for a fight to keep those traits intact because As he says Quot my head keeps trying to sell me pop realized that he had to make a stand for the kind of music he believed in when he was dropped from Elektra records in 1970 and was faced with making a career move that would have threatened that music. He said the decision Only made him More determined. Quot its when you say no at crisis times a it strengthens your resolve and your self respect and at the same time it also makes it harder for you to get along in the big Stream of things Quot he said in a Telephone interview Quot i have corruptions As far As there Are things that Are not particularly glorious that do to try to protect and promote the music that t do that i think is Good but i try to keep the music part As pure As i can there Are tender spots on Brick by Brick despite its anger. Candy a duet with Kate Pierson of the b-52s, lets him Grieve Over a Long Tost love but allows the woman in the form of Pierson to state her mind As Well. And Nome is pop s attempt to show that he is grateful for a tile now rooted after years of instability. Quot i m saying that i value and need my Home life and people that i actually can Trust Quot pop said. A i spent years and years totally and absolutely alone almost Alt the time and i let anybody get near me and that show i wrote. The Only people i would know was my band and i kept them at quite a distance too. Quot that has begun to change but its the irreverent Iggy strikes again never going to totally change maybe because partly that s my nature and partly because that s How i be gotten used to living but its changed quite a bit now Quot guitarist slash and bassist Duff Mckagan from guns no roses Are featured As musicians and co writers on several tracks. Pop praised the band for its understanding of the Punk attitude. Quot they really have the Energy of a Good Punk band and lyrically that Guy Singer Axl Rose actually does what a Good p Unk lyricist tries to do Quot he said Quot he describes what s bugging him no matter How out there it is and he describes what a going on around him faithfully pop tried to achieve his own directness on Brick by Brick both with music and with lyrics Quot i want to be Able to say More just basically about the landscape Quot he said Quot i have a lot id like to say and i d like to be Able to say it More succinctly. I seem to be getting More articulate. And also As 1 get older its like hey in a Gonna die anyway so in a getting less afraid to come right out and say what 1 think whereas before 1 would kind of allude to it in As a self described "fringe.character,�?� pop said Rock n Roll is Best played by someone on the outside of society. To be done convincingly it Rock requires a real outsider a the kind of people who May not really be bad a doomed is probably a better word Quot he said with a laugh. A there s a sense of doom there a a sense of somebody that a outside the accepted rewards system. Half the morbid fascination of watching a Rock career is usually when is he going to get punished for this behaviour a has he made it to that Point "1 made it. In a really bad but i feel Good inside Quot he said. Quot i feel cleansed from the thing which is Why i do it. I feel appropriately clean and doomed at the same time Quot Nice Nice baby Vanilla ices hot by Stephen Holden new York times sooner or later it was bound to happen. A White male rapper with the charismatic bravado of . Hammer and Cool j would storm the pop charts and open the door for an onslaught of White rap music. The Man who has opened that door is a former motorcyclist from Miami nicknamed Vanilla ice. Last week his single ice ice baby held the no 1 spot on billboard s pop singles Chart. This week his album to the extreme is at the top. The album is a sales phenomenon. In five weeks it sold More than 2 million copies with daily tallies averaging Well Over 100,000. Vanilla ice 22, whose real name is a closely guarded secret has Blond hair chiselled Good looks and a Billy idol sneer. Unlike such pop stars As new kids on the Block he produces much of his own music including the single and creates most of his own material. His arrangements often use live Drums and Bass and a More sophisticated array of keyboards than one usually finds in rap. In a Telephone interview from Syracuse where he was opening a show for . Hammer. Vanilla ice described himself As Quot a kid that grew up in the Quot the projects were a Block away from my House and that a where my friends were from Quot he said. According to the rapper his father left Home before he was born and he was brought up by his Mother who now teaches piano flute voice and guitar at the University of Miami before becoming a full time rapper he said he was involved with Quot gangs and Quot i got stabbed five times Quot he recalled. Quot the last time i lost half the blood in my body. When i woke up i Felt like god had Given me a second Chance that was four years ago. Since then i be prayed every single Day at least shortly before his stabbing Vanilla ice also suffered a serious motorcycle Accident. He had been involved with motorcycles since the age of 6 and at 15 had turned professional winning three National championships for team Honda on the Motocross circuit. Quot i broke my left ankle three times Quot he recalled. Quot the last time i broke both Ankles and was told there was an 80 percent Chance i would never walk again. I went from wheelchair to crutches doing a it of physical therapy and had two rounds of surgery. Quot now my Ankles work perfectly and i can dance better than Ever. Though i wanted to Many times l decided not to get Back on a following his Accident Vanilla ice turned his energies to rap music won a Miami Talent contest and toured the local circuit. In 1988 he moved to Dallas where he was discovered in a club called City lights Quot i went there with a Friend to hear the music and dance and without telling me the Friend entered me in a contest Quot he said. Quot other bands had set up with a lot of equipment but i went up with just a microphone and busted a rhyme off my head and won. Quot afterwards i found out that people from Warner Brush a motown and Mca records were there. I signed a contract with my manager the very next the rapper went into an Atlanta studio and recorded a nine Cut album called hooked or a Small Independent Label Ultra records. The album sold 40,000 copies before it was bought by wbk records which re released it with six additional cuts under the title to the extreme. Although his older brother exposed him a no Orcsi Vanilla ice said he never listens to it musically rap is about All he knows though he has a fondness for reggae. His idol is 2 live Crews Luther Campbell who attended the same Miami High school several years ahead of him. To the extreme includes some sexually explicit raps but they avoid the profanities and demeaning epithets that Are a trademark of 2 live Crew and other hard edged rappers. Page 18 a a a the stars and stripes wednesday november 7,1990
